Here's what it took for me to travel from Miami to Birmingham, Alabama, Monday:
- Showed up two hours early, found out I was on the "to be scanned" list (I bought a one-way ticket); taken to a back room and my checked bag was searched by hand for 15 minutes. They did not like the fact I had a pilot uniform.
- Proceeded through the security checkpoint. Carryon bag was scanned electronically. Computer taken out and inspected.
- At the gate, had to get physically patted down, had to remove my belt and shoes, they felt the bottoms of my feet. Another 15 minutes spent hand-searching my carryon.
All this for a **** -ant hour and a half leg to Atlanta. More fun when I got there. At some point I realized - I may not be able to put up with this for the rest of my career......